This may very well have been dealt with already in the forums, but it’s good
news anyway so I thought I’d mention it.
Sometime ago, an article on the Trains News Wire stated the CN was
buying the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range, and that the plan was to close
the shops in Proctor and move those operations elsewhere on the CN
system, and significant layoffs could be expected.
I was in the Twin Ports this weekend and I pulled-into Proctor to see the
DM&IR facilities.
Everything looked the same as it did last year with the only difference being
a CN 6-axle unit among the Missabe SDs on the engine shop tracks. I got
a great photo of a grain train (a rarity on that line I’d have to think) headed
down the hill into Duluth headed by 4 beautiful Missabe SDs. I spoke with
some people in Proctor who said they heard nothing of layoffs.
I also chatted a while with the owner of an excellent hobby shop in Duluth
who was well connected with the Missabe Route people. He assured me
that CN management was very impressed with the efficiency of the DM&IR
operations and they planned no major changes, including that the CN had no intention of changing the name nor the color scheme except for the
MOW road vehicles which would slowly be going to CN colors. He was
rather emphatic that he read the same information off Trains News Wire and
he said it was wrong.
That’s good to hear, I’ve always liked the DM&IR. Even though CN bought them, the line is kind of isolated from the rest of the system, and should be able to support it’s own shops. I recently bought a Pentrex DVD, just in case.[swg]
I think it is only a matter of time before CN does a little more with the DMIR. Just like they did with the IC and WC, just paint a few locomotives to make everyone know who the owner is. I’m guessing the only ones CN will keep is the SD38-2’s. The Tunnel Motors will not last forever just like the WC SD45’s.
I used to drive for a local courier, who was bought out by a company trying to go national. For the first couple of years, new vehicles entering the fleet were still marked with the local name, but with the new name below. Now, 5 years later, the local name is almost gone from the fleet, as new vehicles come in and old ones are retired.
I wouldn’t expect anything different from CN. Another way that CN can make it’s presence felt is to bring in other power already painted in their colors, and reassign DM&IR painted power. No ru***hough, they don’t want to frighten the locals, just condition them to the new boss.[swg]
On the other hand, it’s always a good idea to keep some of those fallen flags around, especially if you want to keep them alive for trademark licensing purposes. Sound familiar?[:0][}:)][;)]
With the Missabe being a fairly isolated line (as noted above), what real benefit
would there be to the CN plastering its name and livery all over everything and
eliminating the logo of a well-known and respected local carrier, with 90% of
their haulage originating from Minnesota sources (i.e. taconite ore)? There is
something to be gained by maintaining “brand recognition”.
When I said that about the DM&IR being isolated, I forgot about the DW&P which runs from Superior, WI to Fort Francis, ON, which CN owns. Combine that with the WC, and they created a great route from Chicago into western Canada. That makes the DM&IR more of a branch line to this major route. CN has built itself quite the system.
The line may stay fairly unchanged for now. Mainly because the DMIR engines are outfitted with equipment that compliments the tac cars. But I highly doubt the line will be run like anything remotely resembling a separate entity. It won’t happen all at once, but it’s just a matter of time before the changes slowly occur. Corporations like CN couldn’t care less about history or tradition. The Chicago Shortline was one of the oldest, best kept, proud railroads in the Midwest. Their locos looked like you could eat off them. When the new owners took over, they couldn’t change things fast enough. Changed the name, the power, the image… Everything. So much for 100 years of history and tradition.